SDDP Act Beyond Borders Problematique in Larnaca in 2010
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SDD Co-Laboratory Overview
The workshop was facilitated by Dr.Yiannis Laouris (CNTI), Dr. Aleco Christakis , Dr. Antonis Loizou, Mrs. Maria Kyprianou.
This report was prepared in the context of the project “Human Rights and Reconciliation – Civil Society Acts Beyond Borders’.
The project brought together stakeholders from Israel and the Palestinian Territories with the view of facilitating the peaceful conciliation and management of group interests and promoting solutions on divisive matters or controversial areas.
During the obstacles co-laboratory (28 and 29 of July), the participants engaged in a structured dialogue to identify the obstacles preventing them from reaching the vision tree.
The Triggering Question (TQ) was:
“What are obstacles to what “ought to be” to create an ideal, mutually beneficial model of coexistence of Israelis and Palestinians?”
The obstacles voted structured the ‘Root Cause Map', shown below.
Root Cause Map
In summary, almost all participants approved that the following factors are the most influential and agreed that further actions must address these root causes satisfactorily:
Obstacle #41 (3 votes): Religious fundamentalists
Obstacle #5 (6 votes): Lack of strong movement that educates
The results of the obstacle root cause map indicate that the major obstacles in achieving the vision are caused not only by Religious fundamentalists but also by a lack of strong movement to educate people, to change their attitude and their perceptions. Once again we see that the obstacles with the deepest drive are in a cycle. This means that these two ideas Obstacle #5: Lack of strong movement that educates and Obstacle #41: Religious fundamentalists are tied to each other and if addressed together they will have significant influence on the obstacles above them. Participants agreed that educating people about peace and getting to know one another’s culture and religion is crucial in moving towards a vision where Palestinians and Israelis may coexist. Along with the root obstacles, the following ones (positioned above the root obstacles) also indicate the need to be addressed: Obstacle #20: The end of occupation and settlements and Obstacle #15: The controversial issues: Jerusalem and the refugees. These are obstacles that cannot be transformed easily, however, peace-groups, politicians, and the international community could collaborate to tackle them and maybe then open up the possibilities for the tree of vision to become a reality.
In sum, progress is difficult but can be made on different levels and several factors can be addressed through educating people from both communities.
Participants
The participants of the SDD co-laboratory are:
| Name | Job title | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Abeer George Youssef Awwad | Student | Palestinian |
| Aia Harel | Student | Israeli |
| Anat Romberg | Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed -Youth organization | Israeli |
| Dar Nadler | Public administrator | Israeli |
| David Swissa | NGO/PR | Israeli |
| Erez Naar | Head of Scholarship and dormitories / Student | Israeli |
| Hana Azmi Al-Atrash | News Producer | Palestinian |
| Husam Hussein m. almeghari | President of PDC | Palestinian |
| Itamar Tas | Student | Israeli |
| Iyad m. a. faqih | Business man/merchant | Palestinian |
| Jehonatan Golany | Business man | Israeli |
| Karin Reingewertz | Director of NGO community work | Israeli |
| Lior Reshef – Deri | Chairman of a student union / Student | Israeli |
| Majd Jammal | Project coordinator | Palestinian |
| Manal Isam Ali Ghaben | Assistant home mother | Palestinian |
| Qais Osama Abdel rahman Maghary | Sales Section Manager | Palestinian |
| Roi Shindler | Lawyer | Israeli |
| Shadi ahmad Abdullah alassi | EST employee | Palestinian |
| Simon Dabit | Project manager | Palestinian |
| Yasmin Celine Confino | Administrative assistant to the CEO, advocate | Israeli |
| Ziyad mohmd mohmd alaydi | Business man | Palestinian |
